BANGKOK, Jan 20 — A new railway bridge linking Thailand and Cambodia is rising to connect Aranyaprathet and Poipet on the Thai-Khmer border.
Removal of the 120-year-old steel railway bridge linking Thailand's Khlong Luek village and Cambodia's Poipet town has begun, with the replacement bridge to be completed in time for the official launch of the ASEAN Community late this year.
Surachai Juengmanon, a bridge engineer for the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), supervised the work at the decaying span that had not been used for four decades due to the Cambodian civil war.
Soithip Trisuddhi, Thailand's transport permanent secretary, and Cambodian Deputy Transport Minister Guang Sun laid the foundation stone for the new bridge last July 25.
The SRT sought 2.8 billion baht to build the new structure and improve tracks from Khlong Sib Kao station in Chachoengsao to the bridge site in Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet. Construction work stretches over a distance of 176 kilometers and Italian-Thai Development Plc is the contractor.
The railway improvement is expected to support cargo transport and railway-based tourism between both countries and relieve traffic through the Khlong Luek border crossing.
The old Khlong Luek-Poipet railway bridge was built in the mid-1920s during the reign of King Rama VII.
The Cambodian Civil War stopped Aranyaprathet-Poipet train service and the old bridge was closed. Trains from Bangkok now stop at Aranyaprathet station six kilometers from the bridge. (MCOT online news)
